What a complete waste of time! This has nothing to do with horror, thriller or romance, for that matter..It's just a bleak take on a very interesting subject, but poorly placed and paced. The main character isn't developed enough, we know nothing about the pain she's been through and we only get to see her act as a spoiled brat, a delusional and empty person and a young woman in love..only to have it all come to a sudden end latter on. And it's not enough, sorry to say.. It goes simply from point A to point B without suspense,momentum nor does it grow the tension by adding certain elements of mystery. No way this hard boiled drama experiment can be rated a horror-thriller!
11 Reviews
This is just the (unpleasant) aftermath, definitely _not_ a blueprint for making it better
chuck-52611 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Yep, the girl we see could be termed "self-loathing" or "mad". And yep she sometimes behaves in strange ways that irritate both her on-screen friends and us viewers.
What we never see is what she was like _before_ "the trauma". What we see is that "the trauma" has permanently scarred her, so that all her attempts at rehabilitation are self-destructive, and her friends attempts at healing uniformly eventually fail.
The skewed behavior we see is definitely _not_ what's recommended. If there's an (implied) "feminist message", it's something like "our sexist culture results in some individuals that are permanently so screwed up they not only can't help the culture, they can't even help themselves very much, like this one".
What we see is the disaster resulting from "the trauma". Reading what we see as some sort of "recommendation" fundamentally misses the whole point.
Watching a thoroughly screwed up person may be "educational", but it tends to not be all that much fun. So what else does this movie deliver? The first "what else" is that quite a few little bits are very funny, for example showing up to a porn shoot wearing a tongue-in-cheek skin-colored outfit (rather than a "birthday suit" as intended) and seducing the other model into playing along with the joke.
And the second "what else" is quite a bit of truly interesting art. It's unconventional, and a lot of it is vaguely disturbing. Yet at the same time it's undeniably beautiful.
This film is squarely in the "mumblecore" tradition: low production values, tiny crew, amateur actors, about the concerns of thirty-somethings, little or no music, and very naturalistic dialog. (I personally am not a big fan of "mumblecore" in general, and my rating reflects my generic dislike more than it does anything about this film specifically.)
What we never see is what she was like _before_ "the trauma". What we see is that "the trauma" has permanently scarred her, so that all her attempts at rehabilitation are self-destructive, and her friends attempts at healing uniformly eventually fail.
The skewed behavior we see is definitely _not_ what's recommended. If there's an (implied) "feminist message", it's something like "our sexist culture results in some individuals that are permanently so screwed up they not only can't help the culture, they can't even help themselves very much, like this one".
What we see is the disaster resulting from "the trauma". Reading what we see as some sort of "recommendation" fundamentally misses the whole point.
Watching a thoroughly screwed up person may be "educational", but it tends to not be all that much fun. So what else does this movie deliver? The first "what else" is that quite a few little bits are very funny, for example showing up to a porn shoot wearing a tongue-in-cheek skin-colored outfit (rather than a "birthday suit" as intended) and seducing the other model into playing along with the joke.
And the second "what else" is quite a bit of truly interesting art. It's unconventional, and a lot of it is vaguely disturbing. Yet at the same time it's undeniably beautiful.
This film is squarely in the "mumblecore" tradition: low production values, tiny crew, amateur actors, about the concerns of thirty-somethings, little or no music, and very naturalistic dialog. (I personally am not a big fan of "mumblecore" in general, and my rating reflects my generic dislike more than it does anything about this film specifically.)
I read what you were going for...this is how you went about it??
moore-jeffery3 January 2016
I like weird movies. I'm pro women. I like the idea of a movie exploring this topic.
It seems the point was just to be weird and shocking. The message intended was not received by me. All I saw was a girl who should probably be institutionalized be treated as a mentally healthy person for the whole movie. She clearly is not, and for me, that's the only message that comes across. I already was on the side of women, but if I had not been, this movie would have certainly done absolutely nothing to sway me. Some movies seem to have absolutely no merits, and this is one of them.
It seems the point was just to be weird and shocking. The message intended was not received by me. All I saw was a girl who should probably be institutionalized be treated as a mentally healthy person for the whole movie. She clearly is not, and for me, that's the only message that comes across. I already was on the side of women, but if I had not been, this movie would have certainly done absolutely nothing to sway me. Some movies seem to have absolutely no merits, and this is one of them.
Horrific to watch
misscath-0266822 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Too many questions left unanswered in this film. I felt for Amy, she is clearly a very disturbed girl who never got over her past sexual trauma. It was clear from the beginning she was on a downward spiral but what was ever done to help her? Her friends tried, but it seemed she was destined for depravity.
I'm not sure why this young guy did not run the other way when he realized how disturbed she was. That might sound cruel, but did he not have any inkling to how disturbed she really was? Did he think he could save her? Did she snap because she thought he was cheating or would she have done so anyway? I think either way she was doomed.
Where was her family? There was no mention of getting her psychiatric treatment, it was as if she was just viewed as eccentric and infantile. I think this was an important topic to address, but for me, as a woman, this was just too horrible for me to watch. This is the most vile and depressing film I have ever seen. I hope I never see anything this disturbing again.
I'm not sure why this young guy did not run the other way when he realized how disturbed she was. That might sound cruel, but did he not have any inkling to how disturbed she really was? Did he think he could save her? Did she snap because she thought he was cheating or would she have done so anyway? I think either way she was doomed.
Where was her family? There was no mention of getting her psychiatric treatment, it was as if she was just viewed as eccentric and infantile. I think this was an important topic to address, but for me, as a woman, this was just too horrible for me to watch. This is the most vile and depressing film I have ever seen. I hope I never see anything this disturbing again.
The worst piece of cinema to ever be produced
iateyourkitten324 December 2015
Browsing for movies, and saw this on netflix. Checked out the plot description and it had real potential to be an incredible movie. I should have checked IMDb, if a movie does not have a 6+ star rating on IMDb, I do not watch it.
Honestly, there is not much positive I can say about the movie. The only thing worse than the story was the unbelievably bad direction, editing, acting, and plot execution. The only good thing about the movie was the music (and I believe it was one song replayed through every key point in the movie).
The ending didn't feel right at all. In a movie, there is supposed to be a plot, that culminates in a final 'payoff', or a series of scenes late in the movie that make sense of the movie in its entirety. This movie didn't have that at all.
Don't watch this movie, it was an hour and 20 minutes of my life I regret. I kept hoping the finale of the movie would make it all worth it; I was wrong. It doesn't even deserve the 1 star rating that I must give it in order to review it. It gets 0.5 star for actually being made (good job to whoever tried to make a movie and succeeded here -- it's still an awful movie).
Honestly, there is not much positive I can say about the movie. The only thing worse than the story was the unbelievably bad direction, editing, acting, and plot execution. The only good thing about the movie was the music (and I believe it was one song replayed through every key point in the movie).
The ending didn't feel right at all. In a movie, there is supposed to be a plot, that culminates in a final 'payoff', or a series of scenes late in the movie that make sense of the movie in its entirety. This movie didn't have that at all.
Don't watch this movie, it was an hour and 20 minutes of my life I regret. I kept hoping the finale of the movie would make it all worth it; I was wrong. It doesn't even deserve the 1 star rating that I must give it in order to review it. It gets 0.5 star for actually being made (good job to whoever tried to make a movie and succeeded here -- it's still an awful movie).
The movie is about a young women Amy who has suffered from sexual abuse
gadajevic16 April 2016
This movie is one of the most truly disturbing movies I have ever watched. The psychological and psychical torture involved leaves you feeling so uncomfortable and sick but mostly frightened as to how realistic it could be.It is very unlike most psychological thrillers I have seen. Amy the main character leaves you so uncomfortable and scared of her busy messed up mind. It is a strong representation of what sexual abuse can do to one, it changes your perspective completely and you really can bathe in her pain while watching the film. Amy ends up like your younger psychotic sister, a ticking time bomb with the most wacky ideas. You joke along side her but she means what she says. It took me by surprise, probably wont watch it again not because its bad, its very good but because its so heavy to watch.
Not all Shades of Grey are equal
Silvaring5 September 2015
The summary does a good job of explaining the plot without giving too much away. So how is the experience of watching it? First the good - Atmosphere is cool, and the movie doesn't dwell too long on each scene so there's a nice forward momentum to the story. Characters are interesting, and even though the film focuses mainly on the lead the other characters can be pretty realistic and non-cliché. Finally, the movie is fresh in that you don't often see female leads who are getting into these kind of weird depressive aggressive states. Coming off of 7 Chinese Brothers you kind of get reminded about how many indie films have guys in the lead.
Now the bad. As another review states the film does drag in the second half, and the start of the issues possibly begin in the bedroom scene (just after the halfway mark). In this scene the lead character (who might have been the victim of rape in the past) opens up to someone else. She goes onto say 'As a woman you're constantly objectified and discredited for anything you do because you're female', and 'just because you're a girl gives men the right to do whatever they want to you, because they (men) are selfish and exploitative'. Aside from being completely false, this kind of stereotyping of entire genders isn't recognized as a problem in the film, and if the film had explored the trauma that could lead a person to these kind of views it would have been balanced, but it never does. So what all this means is that the film doesn't go to places it should have (kind of like another recent film called 'Dirty Weekend' with an elderly Matthew Broderick questioning but never actually questioning his sexuality).
There are probably other minor things I missed, but those should cover the main elements. Worth a watch - maybe.
Now the bad. As another review states the film does drag in the second half, and the start of the issues possibly begin in the bedroom scene (just after the halfway mark). In this scene the lead character (who might have been the victim of rape in the past) opens up to someone else. She goes onto say 'As a woman you're constantly objectified and discredited for anything you do because you're female', and 'just because you're a girl gives men the right to do whatever they want to you, because they (men) are selfish and exploitative'. Aside from being completely false, this kind of stereotyping of entire genders isn't recognized as a problem in the film, and if the film had explored the trauma that could lead a person to these kind of views it would have been balanced, but it never does. So what all this means is that the film doesn't go to places it should have (kind of like another recent film called 'Dirty Weekend' with an elderly Matthew Broderick questioning but never actually questioning his sexuality).
There are probably other minor things I missed, but those should cover the main elements. Worth a watch - maybe.
An Interesting and Wholly Uncomfortable Character Study
Guestron10 December 2015
This was not an easy film to watch. There is also no easy category to file it under so I am just going to call it a character study. Amy is an emotionally unstable young woman who works out her issues through visually stunning imagery sans audience. The imagery is neither pretentious or trite and the viewer gets the feeling that they are seeing work that the actress may have actually crafted herself. The pacing and tone of the film are unhurried and create an uneasy mood. The music is minimalistic, atmospheric and fitting. One of the things that I liked about this film, other than the aforementioned visual facets is that it isn't easy and is at times horribly uncomfortable(especially being a male viewer who has known women not wholly unlike Amy) and yet it is completely honest and original. I like the economy of means used in telling her story and would love to see more from this duo(Banker and Everson).
brilliant
violetbluegreenred1 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I'm stunned, honestly. I am rarely thoroughly invested in movies because I can usually feel the clear divide between real life and the screen, but this one REALLY pulled me in. It was beautiful, for lack of a better word. Gorgeous. Some of the shots will stay with me for a very, very long time. Amy's pain...so real and heart- wrenching. And I love love love the posing in the very last scene. Visceral, cutting, vivid. I can see why people would be upset about this movie being labeled horror. Up until the very end, not much occurs that would be found in a typical horror movie. But at the same time, I can see why it IS horror. There are monsters everywhere in the movie: depression, trauma, a broken heart, desperation, Amy herself. And as she says in the movie, many other forms of violence exist besides the kind that involves a gun or a beating, and you see it so clearly everywhere in this movie. I can say, with all the genuineness I can muster, that I love this film. I'm usually very bad at handling the drama genre because I find that the emotions can be overwhelming. This one, though, is a perfect balance of quirky/funny/fascinating and utterly sad. It kept me engaged and hoping so hard for a happy ending without coming on too strong. So worth the watch.
Something Reflective, Selective, Effective
rpk-356435 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILER ALERT CENTRAL!* I have a summary and then a conversation piece with my partner about this movie. I want to understand the entire feature. It is a bothersome thing to not have a definite. Yes, binary-phobes – I want answers! Please comment and give opinions. Respectfully. The movie Felt begins with a narrative that lives up to its name – Amy's life is a 'fucking nightmare' and the whole movie convenes, rises, and climaxes just as a real nightmare would. As Amy progresses further into an anti-patriarch reality, her repressions of male angst and discontent comes out in the forms of felt costumes that she masculinizes herself with in the woods alone. Interwoven between shots of her friends trying to appease her and provide a viable social life (predominately filled with misogynistic, young men), we find our protagonist strewing herself through the forest with a compilation of different felt facades as well as a synthetically attached penis – this is her escape and victory, but she brings nobody in. Whenever she meets Kenny, who is thrown from her car by her newfound antagonistic equal, she finds a sense of attraction for what she has been isolated from and only fulfilled by in the woods through her felt costumes. It is as though she cannot either resist the male form, or the company of masculinity, although it is presumably what caused her severe psychological trauma. I have some opinions on this that are equally settling and unsettling to me. My partner and I discussed these opinions, and I have them in a colloquial and chronological back-and-forth session as follows. I am 'M' and he is 'H'.
M: She wanted to kill; she didn't want to get better – had she wanted to get better and believe in the higher order of ethics instead of the masculine threat, she would have listened to Kenny in the woods when he bravely stuck his neck out to tell her his 'secret'.
H: No – I think that she did want to kill him, but that he just ended up with the wrong chick; she was in a bad place, couldn't trust a man, and he cheated on her, fair and square.
M: How do we know that? It was implicit, not explicit.
H: The pictures; her friend; the phone.
M: What if he was in a relationship and wanted to get out of it for Amy? It's hard to, on the first date, explain that you're living with somebody if you want their company right away. What if he stopped having sex with the girl he was living with all for Amy? I mean, the guy was patient. He even set up a party supporting the whole agenda of female anatomy and feminine pride.
H: He still should've told her sooner. I do agree that she hated men, and that she preyed on him because he was weak in the sense that he was emotionally available. That was something different to her.
M: Right. Which is why she couldn't inflict harm on anybody else – they were too strong; and she was only strong in the woods, in her costume, or by emotionally captivating Kenny. I think that she didn't want to give up the notion of men being equal; I think the movie speaks loudly of rape culture and female equality, but also on extremism as well. Extremism in the sense that, had she let Kenny finish his sentence on that mossy log, he may have pleasantly surprised her. But she just ignores him. She just leaves it alone, and is ready to kill the only patient man she's ever met.
H: I don't think she set out to kill. I think he pushed her. I think he cheated on her. I think that she wouldn't have killed otherwise. I think that she only killed because she was pushed and the fact that she was 'burned' once again (she explains in the burnt tree), she needed renewal. That renewal was death for her attacker.
M: So Kenny was killed because he was the most vulnerable attacker? The weakest lion? The one who she had power over, but who still had power over her?
H: Right.
M: I think she was looking for an excuse to kill; to atone for all her past misfortunes; I think that she didn't know the full Kenny story and still killed him – that, to me, means that she needed a reason to feel powerful.
There are plenty of tropes throughout the movie; going into the woods is a mythological tale of rejuvenation and renewal and becoming new again (as suggested by her friends through God), is taken into Amy's own hands. I think that, overall, her fear of a male dominated world was inductive of an outlet that could only result in killing. The first time she felt strong enough to attack back, she did, and at her weakest antagonist. Felt feels like Amy's home away from home; she seems drugged out, or numb the entire film, and captivates with her despondency. Overall, Felt is a great independent film that raises so many questions that people can talk heaps over the 80 minutes allowed in the frames.
M: She wanted to kill; she didn't want to get better – had she wanted to get better and believe in the higher order of ethics instead of the masculine threat, she would have listened to Kenny in the woods when he bravely stuck his neck out to tell her his 'secret'.
H: No – I think that she did want to kill him, but that he just ended up with the wrong chick; she was in a bad place, couldn't trust a man, and he cheated on her, fair and square.
M: How do we know that? It was implicit, not explicit.
H: The pictures; her friend; the phone.
M: What if he was in a relationship and wanted to get out of it for Amy? It's hard to, on the first date, explain that you're living with somebody if you want their company right away. What if he stopped having sex with the girl he was living with all for Amy? I mean, the guy was patient. He even set up a party supporting the whole agenda of female anatomy and feminine pride.
H: He still should've told her sooner. I do agree that she hated men, and that she preyed on him because he was weak in the sense that he was emotionally available. That was something different to her.
M: Right. Which is why she couldn't inflict harm on anybody else – they were too strong; and she was only strong in the woods, in her costume, or by emotionally captivating Kenny. I think that she didn't want to give up the notion of men being equal; I think the movie speaks loudly of rape culture and female equality, but also on extremism as well. Extremism in the sense that, had she let Kenny finish his sentence on that mossy log, he may have pleasantly surprised her. But she just ignores him. She just leaves it alone, and is ready to kill the only patient man she's ever met.
H: I don't think she set out to kill. I think he pushed her. I think he cheated on her. I think that she wouldn't have killed otherwise. I think that she only killed because she was pushed and the fact that she was 'burned' once again (she explains in the burnt tree), she needed renewal. That renewal was death for her attacker.
M: So Kenny was killed because he was the most vulnerable attacker? The weakest lion? The one who she had power over, but who still had power over her?
H: Right.
M: I think she was looking for an excuse to kill; to atone for all her past misfortunes; I think that she didn't know the full Kenny story and still killed him – that, to me, means that she needed a reason to feel powerful.
There are plenty of tropes throughout the movie; going into the woods is a mythological tale of rejuvenation and renewal and becoming new again (as suggested by her friends through God), is taken into Amy's own hands. I think that, overall, her fear of a male dominated world was inductive of an outlet that could only result in killing. The first time she felt strong enough to attack back, she did, and at her weakest antagonist. Felt feels like Amy's home away from home; she seems drugged out, or numb the entire film, and captivates with her despondency. Overall, Felt is a great independent film that raises so many questions that people can talk heaps over the 80 minutes allowed in the frames.
Artistic and symbolic
addierox8 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I was attracted to this movie because Netflix claimed it was about multiple personalities (Dissociative Identity Disorder), a topic which is close to home for me. What I found in this movie was not DID, but whatever it was, it was still carried out very artistically and beautifully. The movie is a cinematic artwork, not necessarily a traditional story, and it should be seen that way if it is to be appreciated. The pathology of the main character was very intriguing, but more or less metaphorical in practice. If anything, this girl's costumes are out of a desperate need to escape and be something she isn't - which is partially where DID comes from, but the real process is much less conscious or controlled. She is a girl ravaged by her past and doomed to walk the earth as a husk, a shadow, looking for a genuine and safe body to inhabit. Things like dissociation and depression are very similar in this, but not as artistic, and that's what I mean when I say the character is metaphorical - she's not meant to be taken literally, but rather artistically, through her costumes and her strange relationships. In the end, she does find a kind of peace, but never in a way the viewer would expect, and this too is metaphorical - coping and recovering is a violent process that may require one to metaphorically murder the things that hurt you most. Amy here simply gives us an artistic visual of that. This movie is not anything like what I expected, but I still very much enjoyed it. I always love things that force me to think.
See also
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